“I
can’t believe you’re going out for coffee with Ayla Giovanni,” LaLa said as she
perched on the edge of my bed while I got ready.
“You’re
telling me,” I lamented as I swiped on some blush. “I don’t want to go.”
“I
know you don’t,” LaLa said with sympathetic eyes. Secretly, I figured she was
probably entertained by all of this.
“Antoine’s
going to think I’m up to something,” I said.
“Screw
what Antoine thinks,” she replied. “It’s not about Antoine. You’re doing your
boss a favor.”
“True,”
I agreed.
“If
Antoine and Ayla weren’t dating, and your boss asked you to get coffee with
Ayla, you’d have still done it, right?” LaLa stated.
“Yeah,”
I said.
“There
you go,” she said. “Has nothing to do with Antoine.”
I
checked my watch. “I gotta go.”
“Good
luck,” LaLa said with a wink and a laugh. “I’ll be thinking of you.”
I
rolled my eyes and bolted out the door. We were supposed to meet at some coffee
shop halfway between her place and mine. I tried to take comfort in the fact
that she was probably dreading it just as much as I was.
“Ayla,
hi,” I said as I walked in the door. I was a few minutes late, and she seemed
annoyed. Then again, when didn’t she seem annoyed?
Her
long, dark hair was pulled back into a low, ballerina bun. She was wearing
Aztec print leggings, brown, leather booties, and a button down, silky blouse.
Only she could pull off that look.
I
immediately felt frumpy next to her in my jeans and top, but I brushed it off.
She had already ordered a coffee and was sipping on it while checking her
phone.
“I’m
going to grab a drink,” I said, getting back up.
I
returned with my warm mug of Chai and took a seat across from her.
“I
think it’s cute that Julianne is trying to…” I trailed off as I saw her face. I
guess it really wasn’t cute. It was rather sad and pathetic. “She really cares
about you.”
Ayla
shrugged and sipped her coffee.
“So
your wedding is coming up,” I said in an attempt to make conversation.
“Yep,”
she said with a smile.
“How
did you meet Antoine?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself, and it seemed like a
natural question.
“Friends,”
she replied. She was clearly in a one-word answer kind of mood. So rude.
I
wondered what mutual friends they had, but of course I couldn’t ask that.
“That’s
nice,” I said. “It’s good to have mutual friends.”
Julianne
said Ayla didn’t have any friends, I remembered. I wouldn’t have put it past
Antoine to have an online dating profile somewhere. I laughed on the inside as I was pretty sure that’s how they met. It was the
only thing that made sense.
“So are you excited to get married ?” I asked.
She
glanced up at me over her mug of steamy coffee and scrunched her eyebrows.
“Yeah?”
she said in an almost offended tone. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She
had no personality. Zero. What the hell did Antoine see in her?
“Tell
me about Antoine,” I said. “What’s he like?”
Her
demeanor instantly changed and her shoulders seemed to relax a bit while her
face softened.
“He’s
wonderful,” she said. For the first time since I’d formally met her, a genuine
smile spread across her full, supermodel lips. “He’s more than I could ever ask
for. More than I deserve, probably. He’s my whole world.”
“How
nice,” I said. On the inside, I died a little. That described him perfectly and
I knew it.
“He’s
so good to me,” she continued. “He makes me breakfast in bed on my days off. He
takes me shopping and spends hours waiting while I try on the entire store. He
always lets me pick the movies and the restaurants.”
“That’s
good,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. That was Antoine for
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